Monday, 28 September 2009

It's been awhile since I've last posted. I hope you all had a wonderful Summer. Today, I am launching a new series on this blog called Marketing the Monarchy.

So, what is Marketing the Monarchy, you ask? Basically, it will be a collection of ideas, suggestions, and thoughts about how you and I can promote the Canadian Crown. For those of you who don't know me personally, my background is in marketing. Marketing is what I studied at university, marketing is what I do for a living, and marketing is something that fascinates me.

Marketing itself can be defined as the activity and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers (that's you, me, and other individuals) and society at large. (If you are really bored and want a more detailed description, type the word "marketing" in your search engine and you will be bombarded with information on the subject.)

Therefore, why not put to use the principles of marketing to help further the cause of the League and the monarchy? Thankfully, you don't have to be a professional marketer to market the monarchy. Marketing is everywhere around us. Even if you aren't aware of the name of some concept or haven't studied the process behind some theory, no doubt you will still be able to relate to these ideas and be able to execute them and make a real difference.

Let's begin with a relatively simply concept called viral marketing. Just like its name implies, viral marketing works much like a virus. Let's consider the nasty H1N1 flu virus for a moment, since it's been in the news for the last several weeks and months now. Basically, someone in the community contracts this bug and passes it on to others. The next thing you know, his family members, friends, and colleagues - people he's been in contact with - contract the same bug. These new infected individuals, in turn, pass the same bug onto others, yet. This continues, and eventually, a large section of the population has the H1N1 flu virus.

Well, this is pretty much how viral marketing works, too. Someone introduces an idea and passes that message onto other people he knows. He could even be brave and pass along the message to complete strangers, too, but that takes a little more guts! He then asks these people he knows to pass the same message onto people they know. And, so on it goes...until a large section of the population is made aware of an idea that one single person initiated.

Viral marketing uses the so-called word-of-mouth idea, one of the most powerful marketing tools available. And, it's cheap, too! Think of the time when you went to a restaurant based on the rave reviews offered by your peers. This is viral marketing. (As an aside, viral marketing can work the other way, too. Think of that time your friend told you about the dreadful service he experienced at a certain auto repair garage. Guess where you're not taking your car?)

Technology has made viral marketing and word-of-mouth advertising that much more effective, still. We can utilise Email, Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, etc. to introduce and spread our viruses - err - ideas!

So, let's put this theory to practice, shall we. Here's a simple viral marketing campaign you can do on your own to help promote the monarchy. Send out an Email to everyone of your contacts in your address book telling them about the 6-month Trial Membership we offer here at the Monarchist League of Canada. Shameless self-promotion is allowed in viral marketing.

Ask them to consider joining the League at no cost. And, ask them to send the same message onto their address book contacts, too. If you do this tonight or tomorrow I guarantee you that we will see a spike in the number of Free Trial Membership requests this week.

Welcome | Bonjour

My name is Robert (Bob) Finch. I am truly honoured to serve as the Dominion Chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada. I joined the League over a decade ago to help promote the understanding of and loyalty to the Canadian Crown.

Welcome to my Blog. I look forward to sharing with you exciting news and information about the League and the Crown.

I always enjoy hearing from our members and from the public. Please feel free to Email me at chairman@monarchist.ca.